Starlo: snapper on plastics

from Fishing Monthly Magazine | January 2023

Boat Test: Edencraft 6m Offshore

Catch snapper on soft plastics

NSW STH COAST Steve Starling

www.fishotopia.com

Who doesn’t love a fullbodied red? We mean snapper, of course! Catching them on soft plastics isn’t hard, and it’s also great fun.

Snapper are one of Australia’s favourite saltwater fish, with a huge geographic range that takes them all the way around the southern half of the continent: from the seas off Mackay Medium-weight spin tackle is perfect for targeting snapper on plastics.

First light is a great time to catch snapper on plastics, but they’ll respond to these lures all day, especially in deeper water.

in Queensland to Exmouth in WA. They’re even found in Tasmanian waters, where their prevalence has been steadily increasing over the past decade or so as average water temperatures rise.

Twenty-odd years ago, catching a snapper on a lure was still something of a novelty for many of us. Sure, it happened, but it wasn’t an everyday occurrence for most anglers. Then came what I like to refer to as the ‘third wave’ of the soft plastics’ revolution in Australia: a wave that I’m quietly proud to say my mate Bushy and I helped to spearhead with the Squidgies lures we designed and promoted for Shimano Australia.

Within a couple of season, catching snapper on lures went from rare to commonplace. Boats full of keen anglers even began heading offshore in search of reds, squire, knobbies or

pinkies (regional names for snapper of various sizes) without a skerrick of bait on board — something that would’ve been unimaginable in earlier times.

As so often happens with any “new” fishery like this, the snapper-onplastics “thing” enjoyed a couple of red hot years with crazy catches before slowly tapering off, settling down and plateauing. Perhaps a lot of the ‘dumber’ snapper, or those that were particularly susceptible to the charm of soft plastics, got caught in those 10 years or so between about 2005 and 2015. Certainly, it’s not quite as easy today as it was then to head out and easily score a bag with softies, especially in hard-fished places like Coffs Harbour or Port Phillip Bay. But snapper are still eminently catchable on soft lures, and this remains a wonderful way to target them.

There’s nothing especially tricky about fooling reds on rubber. Simply get yourself over some likely snapper ground in anything from a few metres to as much as 60-70m of water and start fishing! (In deeper water, metal offerings such as slow-pitch and octostyle jigs tend to be a better choice than plastics.)

Best tails for snapper include straight flukes, curly grubs, T-tailed swim baits and various prawn imitations, but they often aren’t too fussy. Plastics from 70-150mm in length are ideal, and all manner of colours work, with many anglers favouring bright,

contrasting combinations of green or chartreuse combined with various reds or pinks. However, natural tones and all-white tails can also be super productive at times, so experiment. Adding some scent can also be highly beneficial.

For me, the more important element of lure selection is jighead choice. You want something with a sturdy, sharp hook in the 2/0 to 5/0 size range, but there’s a lot to be said for choosing the lightest jig weight you can get away with under the prevailing conditions. This gives the lure a longer ‘hang time’ as it sinks through the water column, greatly increasing the strike rate. This could mean using a jig weighing 7g or less in shallower water, up to perhaps 30-40g out on the deeper marks.

I prefer to drift rather than anchor when fishing plastics offshore, but both strategies work. If drifting, cast down-drift: well ahead of the moving boat. Feed out some extra line and allow the plastic to swim its way free-spooling again. Soon you’ll be over the top of the lure, so retrieve it at a medium pace for the first few metres, then race it back to the surface and repeat the whole process. You can even use two outfits as once, as I demonstrate in the short how-to video you can watch by scanning the QR code hereabouts or going to my “Starlo Gets Reel” channel on YouTube.

If you’re fishing at anchor, or holding position with an electric motor, cast well up-current to help the jig sink as it comes back past the boat. If the current is running really hard, you may need to increase your jig head weight, or go to a heavier metal lure.

Catching snapper on plastics is great fun, highly

A decent depth sounder/GPS plotter combo is really handy for finding snapper and returning to productive marks. Catching a decent bag of reds on rubber might not be quite as easy as it was a decade ago, but it’s still very achievable.